CSU athletic director Paul Kowalczyk had to slash his proposed budget for next season but remains confident the athletic department is heading in the right direction.

Written by

Paul Kowalczyk, who has been trying to increase CSU's athletic budget as an investment he expects to produce substantial future returns, had to cut $160,000 from his proposed budget for next year because of reduced state funding for higher education and a weakened economy.

But the "stretch goals" that were adopted by the university five months after his hiring more than three years ago are not being abandoned by the athletic director or the university's new leadership.

"The cost between doing Division I-A athletics badly and the cost between a level of excellence? That difference isn't so ...